News

March 9, 2018

School Breakfast Initiative Now Offering Grants to Schools

March 08, 2018

Harrisburg, PA – As part of his School Breakfast Initiative, Gov. Tom Wolf has announced that $900,000 in mini-grants are available to schools to start or expand alternative breakfast programs to help more students begin the day with a healthy breakfast. LAMPa advocates helped secure the funding the governor requested in the 2017-18 state budget. The deadline for applications is April 6.

“Students who start the day with a healthy breakfast are ready to focus and learn,” said Gov. Wolf. “Expanding access to school breakfast is an effective way to positively impact the lives and performance of individual students, as well as improve the overall climate in schools and classrooms.”

Grants of up to $5,000 are available for schools to implement a School Breakfast Program using an “alternative serving method,” such as grab-and-go, or Breakfast in the Classroom. Schools can also expand an existing program to include an alternative serving method. Breakfast must be made available to all students in a school.

In addition to the $900,000 in state grants, the governor’s School Breakfast Initiative will leverage additional federal funding.

“These grants will help schools initiate a new breakfast program, or bolster an existing one using innovative delivery systems; whether it is an elementary school that implements Breakfast in the Classroom for younger students, or a middle school that opts for grab-and-go, all students benefit from schoolwide breakfast programs,” Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera said.

In 2016, as part of its food security plan, “Setting the Table: A Blueprint for a Hunger-free PA,” the Wolf Administration set a goal of ensuring that 60 percent of students who benefit from free and reduced priced school meals also participate in school breakfast by 2020.

Currently, over 3,000 Pennsylvania schools report that they offer breakfast; however, fewer than half of those schools offer alternative serving methods. Currently, only 50 percent of students who receive free or reduced lunch also receive breakfast.